Venue: Room No. 005, IDSA
Speakers: Mr. Rajeev Lala and Mr. Rai Mahimapat Ray

Speakers

Mr. Rai Mahimapat Ray is a Junior Research Fellow at the School of International Studies, JNU. His doctoral thesis is on “Central Asia-China Energy Cooperation, 1997-2008”. He is also currently engaged as a guest Teacher in Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi, where he lectures undergraduate and postgraduate students on Political Theory, Indian Government and Politics, Comparative Constitutions and International Politics.

Mr. Rajeev Lala is a doctoral research scholar at the Centre for European Studies in the School of International Studies at JNU. He also works as a security analyst with Control Risks. He is working on his PhD thesis titled ‘The Politics of Energy in European Union – Central Asia Relations, 1999-2010’.

Synopsis

Central Asia today is seen as the final frontier for oil and gas reserves, with various powers seeking to extend sway and extract energy resources in a region, closed till the collapse of USSR. Central Asian energy Resources and the future of the same require more than a mere two-dimensional analysis, as the politics played out today will directly influence the energy security of Europe, China, Russia and India in the near future. Mr Ray and Mr Lala shall seek to analyse the various synergies available to each suitor as well as trying to delineate how central Asian energy resources would flow out considering that China has shown both clarity of purpose as well as drive in extending its reach in the area.